Festivals, Events and Holiday calendar in Sri Lanka

Most (but not all) Sri Lankan festivals follow the lunar calendar, meaning that dates vary considerably from year to year.

Most of the public holidays are based on Buddhist festivals. Buddhist festivals revolve around the days of the full moon poya days. On poya days, Sri Lankan Buddhists traditionally make offerings at their local temple and perform other religious observances.

The islands most important Buddhist festivals are traditionally celebrated with enormous peraheras, or parades, with scores of fabulously dressed elephants accompanied by drummers and dancers.

The government also includes holidays for Islam, Hinduism and Christianity religions in the country’s list of public holidays every year.

Note to tourists visiting Sri Lanka

People often travel on poya days and other official holidays, so transport, public places such as beaches, bathing places and accommodation tends to be busy. There’s also (On theory) a ban on the sale of alcohol, although tourist hotels and guest houses will usually serve for foreign tourists.

January

Duruthu Maha Perahera Kelani Perahera

Duruthu Poya Marks the first of the Buddha’s three legendary visits to Sri Lanka, celebrated with a spectacular perahera at the Raja Maha Vihara in the Colombo suburb of Kelaniya. The Duruthu poya also marks the beginning of the three-month pilgrimage season to Adam’s Peak.Significance of Duruthu Pasalosvaka Poya

Thai Pongol Hindu festival, honoring the sun god Surya, Indra (the bringer of rains), and the cow, in no particular order. It’s marked by ceremonies at Hindu temples, after which the first grains of the new paddy harvest are ceremonially cooked in milk in a special pot-the direction in which the liquid spills is thought to indicate good or bad luck in the coming year.

February

Navam Poya Commemorates the Buddha’s announcement, at the age of 80, of his own impending death, celebrated with a major perahera at the Gangaramaya temple in Colombo. Although this dates only from 1979, it has already become one of the island’s biggest festivals, featuring a procession of some fifty elephants.

Independence Day/ National Day primarily celebrates Sri Lanka’s independence from British rule on 4 February 1948, but is a day to remember Sri Lanka’s struggle for independence from various regimes. This is usually celebrated in Galle Face Green with parades, dances and games.

Maha Sivarathri (Feb/March) Hindu festival dedicated to Shiva, during which devotees perform a one-day fast and an all-night vigil.

March

Medin Poya Marks the Buddha’s first visit to his father’s palace following his enlightenment.

Good Friday An Easter Passion play is performed on the island of Duwa, near Negombo.

May

Vesak Pandals in Colombo

May day or International Workers Day/ Labour day (1 May) The traditional May Day bank holiday. Main political parties hold rallies in Colombo and other parts of the island on this day.

Vesak Poya The most important of the Buddhist poyas, this is a three-fold celebration commemorating the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death, all three of which have happened on the day of the vesak poya.

June

Poson Poya Second only in importance to Vesak, poson poya commemorates the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by Mahinda, marked by mass pilgrimages to Anuradhapura, while thousands of white-robed pilgrims climb to the summit off Mihintale. Read the Story behind the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramazan Festival Day) – This is a Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan

July

Kandy Esala Perahera

Esala Poya Celebrates the Buddha’s first sermon and the arrival of the Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka. The lunar month of Esala is the season of festivals, marked by elephant peraheras at Kataragama, Dondra, Bellanwila (a southern Colombo suburb) and, most flamboyantly, the great Esala Perahera in Kandy (late July to early Aug), Sri Lanka’s most extravagant festival.

Esala Perahara Kataragama (late July/early August) Festival at Kataragama (held at the same time as the Esala perahera) during which devotees fire-walk and indulge in various forms of ritual self-mutilation, piercing their skin with hooks and weights, and driving skewers through their cheeks and tongues.

August

Nikini Poya Marks the retreat of the Bhikkhus following the Buddha’s death, commemorated by a period of fasting and of retreat for the monastic communities.

Vel (July/August) Colombo’s most important Hindu festival, dedicated to Skanda/ Kataragama and featuring two exuberant processions during which the god’s chariot and vel (spear) are carried across the city from the Pettah to temples in Wellawatta and Bambalapitiya. During the Vel, the gilded chariot of Murugan (Skanda), the Hindu war god, is ceremonially hauled from the Kathiresan kovil to a kovil at Bambalapitiya.

Nallur Festival Held at the Nallur Temple in Jaffna in honour of Skanda, this is the biggest and longest festival in Sri Lanka, a mammoth 26-day affair, ending on Nikini poya.

September

Binara Poya Commemorates the Buddha’s journey to heaven to preach to his mother and other deities.

Id-Ul-Alha (Hajjhi Festival Day), is a Muslim festival marking the beginning of pilgrimages to Mecca.

Dussehra (Sep/ Oct) Also known as Durga Puja, this Hindu festival honours Durga and also commemorates the day of Rama’s victory over Ravana.

October

Vap Poya Marks the Buddha’s return to earth and the end of the Buddhist period of fasting.

Deepavali (late Oct/ early Nov) The Hindu Festival of Lights (equivalent to north India’s Diwali), commemorating the return from exile of Rama, hero of the Ramayana, with the lighting of lamps in Tamil households, symbolic of the triumph of good over evil, and the wearing of new clothes.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this website has been compiled or arrived at based on information obtain from sources believed to be reliable. However, we shall not be liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising from inaccuracies.